Profit + Utopia= Soulless Nation: ruminations of a disheartened priest

With profit as our idol and utopia our ideal, what chance is there to save the soul of our nation or ourselves?

Like the red traffic signal that stopped the traffic’s progress the larger than life “Profitopia” sign nearly halted my heart and set my head spinning. “What? Now we are unapologetically pandering profit + utopia?” I guess I should commend the driver stopped in front of me in the black Cadillac SUV for being clear as cellophane about his beliefs.

My next stop was at my laptop., I ‘googled’ Profitopia and read, “Profitopia is a profit coaching firm. We teach entrepreneurs how to create more profits for their business, generate more cash flow and create more personal wealth.” https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=686716725556724

Then I searched for profit; “to gain an advantage or benefit.” https://www.dictionary.com/browse/profit

Next utopia; “ Utopia typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utopia

Living in our capital driven culture I certainly cannot quarrel with the preference for profit. BUT, and this is a big but, have you considered the calamitous consequences of marrying profit to utopia? profitopia? Utopias are imaginary, perfect communities which, quite frankly, do not and cannot exist in reality. That being the case, if our cultural ideal is “profitopia” the drive for profit will be in vain because there can never be enough profit to reap unrealizable utopia. I guess that is why one thousand million dollars is not enough in the world of billionaires.

Following the black Cadillac to “Profitopia” is like being a grey hound chasing a mechanical rabbit; there is no way to win the mythic prize and after a flock of futile races there is every chance that even if he finishes first, the dog will lose both body and soul. Perhaps that is why Jesus asks his followers, “What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?” (Matthew 16.26)

The “Profitopia” sign on the back of the stopped black Cadillac points to the heart of what is broken in our country today. With profit as our idol and utopia our ideal, what chance is there to save the soul of our nation or ourselves?

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